I read and agreed with your editorial regarding the absurdity of Sen. Dianne Feinstein’s proposed National Firearms Act.

In answer to the question posed: “Why are this senator and the president focusing their efforts on limiting and hassling law-abiding gun owners?” my guess, admittedly cynical, is simply that they are professional politicians. There are very few, if any, who can resist the political urge to legislate after unthinkable tragedies occur.

I’m not a gun nut in either the pro or con sense of the word. I have read with interest everyone’s thoughts about weapons, rights and far too many Associated Press stories on the subject of guns and politicians. It never once occurred to me to opine on the subject, but on Thursday, I was moved to write when I read a column authored by Dorothy Royal (aka the Topsail Gun Gal).

I like to read her columns every week; they are well written and informative. I urge those of you who have not read her Valentine’s Day column to do so now — it appears in the Topsail Advertiser, which is free.

In the meantime, I would like to let everyone know that the Merriam-Webster dictionary defines assault as a violent physical or verbal assault. Within the alternate definitions, no mention is made of rifles or any other kinds of weapons. An assault doesn’t require a weapon to be what it is. As such, the phrase assault rifle has no semantic value and it doesn’t appear to have a purpose other than making politicians and their press writers sound noble when they attempt to peddle legislation.

Having said that, I would like to coin a new phrase; it’s called journalistic assault. It was committed by a journalist who called Royal. Among other things, Royal reported that she was asked by the AP reporter if she thought that an accessory designed to help disabled people exercise their Second Amendment rights also happened to be the preferred accessory for criminal drug cartels.

When a member of the media asks a question of a law-abiding, small-business owner, a question that inherently implies that she is supplying criminals, I call that journalistic assault. So we have politicians who want to disarm disabled people and so-called journalists basically accusing ordinary people of arming drug cartels.

Before any meaningful discussion of Second Amendment rights or gun regulations can be had, there needs to be a discussion about the proper use of the First Amendment — particularly the clause which grants the press the freedom to assault law-abiding citizens with accusatory, loaded questions.